Pfizer cancer drug fails two trials

Pfizer Inc.’s drug pipeline took a hit with the announcement Monday that an experimental treatment for non-small cell lung cancer failed in key studies to show a significant effect on patient survival.

Pfizer, which employs more than 3,000 scientists at its campus in Groton, said the drug dacomitinib failed to slow progression of the disease significantly when compared with standard therapy. It also didn’t improve overall survival.

The industry blog FiercePharma noted that a third late-stage trial of dacomitinib is also underway and that Pfizer will be parsing data to determine if any subgroups responded to the therapy.